1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for connecting messages addressed sent from one vehicle (sender) intended for a second vehicle (recipient) without requiring pre-knowledge of the recipient's address information.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Computers are becoming more and more prevalent throughout our technologically advanced society. Even with drivers of passenger vehicles commuting on busier roads with more and more distractions and obstacles, the technology boom is quickly adding more and more internal distractions to the inside of vehicles. Portable telephones are currently the most visible technological distraction for drivers. Minivans are now coming equipped with televisions and video players and video games in the backseat area for the amusement of the passengers. GPS systems and mapping displays are finding their way into our vehicles. Heads-up-displays and night vision systems are beginning to enter the market place as well.
Cars and trucks are also being built now with additional outlets to run more of the external electronics that drivers and passengers are porting with them. The outlets that once were used to run radar detection units are now being used by the ever present computers. Laptops, notebooks, and hand held computers are becoming more and more prevalent as the internet becomes an important method of sending and retrieving vital information. Where individuals once made a telephone call to information to locate phone numbers, now the same individuals are downloading the telephone number off the internet along with the address, map and driving directions to the destination from free sites available on the internet.
With the methods available for one person to communicate with another at an all time high, through telephones, faxes, e-mail, chat groups, and a myriad of other sources, there should be a simple way for any individual in sight of a vehicle to transmit a message to the vehicle without having to know the identity or address of the driver.
Wertheim (U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,372) posits a system with some of these capabilities. The Wertheim “PLATEDATE” is a transaction-based system for romantic dating. In the majority, its references to prior art discuss relationships and physical attraction. Wertheim collects personal information on marital status and sexual orientation, and uses this information to make decisions about its messaging capabilities. It describes the use of a database of license plate numbers, which can be queried after the first party has paid a lookup fee. The Wertheim system then provides the personal data of the second party, and its work is complete.
The current inter vehicle communication system (“IVCS”) uses a database containing, inter alia, license plate numbers. Unlike the prior art, IVCS extends the value of this database in several valuable and unique ways.
The current system proposed by the present invention utilizes a central database and service to connect one driver with another driver by a common internet medium. As in-car computers become more prevalent, inter-vehicle e-mail will provide an ideal method of connecting two drivers who were previously unknown to each other. The internet provides a common format standardization for transmitting data which is independent of the operating system, browser, and software being used by both or either of the end computers. A hand held computer operating in a non-DOS (WINDOWS™, MACINTOSH™, etc.) environment can communicate easily with a laptop running in a DOS environment, and vice versa. E-mail and the internet provide common communication standards as well as a relatively “free” transmission medium.
The Inter Vehicle Communication System (IVCS) is a database clearing house to permit users to register their personal/professional contact information, including, inter alia, telephone numbers, email addresses, SMS and instant message IDs. Such information may be hereinafter referred to as the “IVCS-ID”. The IVCS registration process permits users to designate various parts of the IVCS-ID as public or private, and to associate the user's IVCS-ID with a vehicle, identified by year, make, model, color, and license plate or an IVCS decal ID number. Through this database clearinghouse any individual can send a message (via phone, IVR, email, SMS, instant messaging, etc) to the IVCS-ID of any vehicle on the road, simply by identifying the license plate that should receive the message. Registered users possessing an IVCS-ID can receive the messages sent to them via this system.